Events Archive

Women’s Guild Members Tour Simulation Center

Women’s Guild board members and their spouses/significant others gathered to celebrate the holidays in December and tour the recently opened Women’s Guild Simulation Center for Advanced Clinical Skills. Located in Cedars-Sinai’s new Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion, and equipped with the latest in human patient simulators and medical devices, the Center replicates the reality of professionals working together performing different roles and navigating the latest technology to improve clinical skills development, teamwork, communication and, ultimately, patient safety.

After enjoying “mocktails” and appetizers, guests were welcomed by Bruce L. Gewertz, MD, Cedars-Sinai’s surgeon-in-chief and chair of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Gewertz thanked Women’s Guild members for their generous $10 million pledge and explained what their financial support will make possible. Women’s Guild support will provide for the ongoing acquisition and maintenance of vital equipment, robotics and new technology — ensuring the Simulation Center will remain state of the art for generations to come. Simulation Center Manager Russell Metcalfe-Smith then gave guests an overview of the Center’s current offerings.

Attendees took turns touring the facility and observing, and even assisting, with a gallbladder surgery and other simulations. Guests watched an astonishingly realistic surgery simulation exercise being performed by trauma surgeon Rex Chung, MD, and Meir Jonathon Solnik, MD, director of the Division of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery and co-director of the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Center at Cedars-Sinai. The tour, led by Metcalfe-Smith, included the operating room suite, the obstetrics and gynecology suite, the emergency/trauma suite and the neonatal/pediatric intensive care suite.

1 Hella and Chuck Hershson with Dr. Rex Chung
2 Ruth Blumkin, Tina Gittelson, Lynn Beyer and Brenda Fritz